Stray pig menace may end soon in the city

ST CORRESPONDENT

Saturday, 21 September 2019

Deputy Mayor Siddharth Dhende said, “The PMC has given contract to Durgappa Dhoni to catch stray pigs and transport them to Karnataka. The PMC had called expression of interest for catching and shifting of stray pigs."

PUNE: The long-pending menace of stray pigs may end soon with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) giving a contract to a Karnataka-based man to take them away from the city. The person has demanded police protection till the Karnataka border fearing an attack on him or the animals.

Speaking to Sakal Times, Deputy Mayor Siddharth Dhende said, “The PMC has given contract to Durgappa Dhoni to catch stray pigs and transport them to Karnataka. The PMC had called expression of interest for catching and shifting of stray pigs. The civic body received responses from just two firms. Dhoni has shown interest in catching and shifting pigs but he needs police protection. Another agency was ready but demanded Rs 50,000. Hence, the contract was given to Dhoni.”

“The decision was taken in a meeting with Additional Municipal Commissioner Rubal Agrawal and Chief Medical Officer Ramchandra Hankare. The administration is ready to provide police protection to Dhoni till the border. According to the officials, some people have been unofficially running the stray pigs businesses and there are chances of an attack on him. Hence, PMC will pay charges to the police department to protect Dhoni and his team,” Dhende added.

According to the PMC, stray pigs are a carrier of diseases like Japanese Encephalitis, Brain Fever, Hepatitis E, Multiple Sclerosis, Liver Cancer and Cirrhosis and Yersinia among others.

According to PMC officials, Bibvewadi, Hadapsar and Dhankawadi have the highest number of stray pigs. Besides that, they spread garbage. The civic administration is facing a problem to find people who can catch pigs as when PMC employees tried to catch, they were threatened and attacked by goons. Therefore, employees are scared of doing the job.

As per PMC’s expression of interest, the civic body will not give any fees for catching and shifting of the pigs. The minimum number of pigs to be caught should not be less than 100. If required, necessary police protection or security will be provided.